The texas s ta r chart
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Sunday, April 25, 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Blog #3 National Education Technology Plan
The National Education Technology Plan was created in 2010 by our nation's governors and state education chiefs to ensure that our nation's education system is striving to keep up with the technology that is now constantly amongst us. To successfully teach these 21st Century learners, our eduction system must take on a whole new approach. Students need to be participating in projects based on real world problems. Using blogs, wikis, podcasts to collaborate and communicate are necessary. Relevancy is the key word--what will they need in the real world?
Goals have been put in place to address needs of the "universal learner" using various lessons, goals and improving access for learners. This encompasses more students than just the learner that is normally thought of; senior citizens, people with disabilities, the adult workforce and all learners from impoverished areas.
Varied assessment is also a goal for the National Education Technology Plan. Often times, assessments are used after the lesson has been completed. It would be much more effective to be used throughout the lessons using various methods such as response devices, group scribbles in science and online system tracking devices.
Professional development is a necessity also. Teaching is often an isolated profession in which teachers must rely on their own lessons, experiences and ideas. Using resources online such as Teachers.tv or PBS lessons could help teachers use multimedia resources that are ready to be integrated into their curriculum. Connecting with other professionals and networking are also goals for professional development.
I believe that these are all good goals to pursue. Time to learn new software and prepare lessons would be a problem as well as money required to implement new technology. Slowly we are getting to a point where these goals don't seem as lofty as they once would have. With continued support from the state and national level, we should be able to achieve these goals in the future.
Goals have been put in place to address needs of the "universal learner" using various lessons, goals and improving access for learners. This encompasses more students than just the learner that is normally thought of; senior citizens, people with disabilities, the adult workforce and all learners from impoverished areas.
Varied assessment is also a goal for the National Education Technology Plan. Often times, assessments are used after the lesson has been completed. It would be much more effective to be used throughout the lessons using various methods such as response devices, group scribbles in science and online system tracking devices.
Professional development is a necessity also. Teaching is often an isolated profession in which teachers must rely on their own lessons, experiences and ideas. Using resources online such as Teachers.tv or PBS lessons could help teachers use multimedia resources that are ready to be integrated into their curriculum. Connecting with other professionals and networking are also goals for professional development.
I believe that these are all good goals to pursue. Time to learn new software and prepare lessons would be a problem as well as money required to implement new technology. Slowly we are getting to a point where these goals don't seem as lofty as they once would have. With continued support from the state and national level, we should be able to achieve these goals in the future.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Blog #2 Progress Report on Long Range Plan for Technology
The progress report for the Long Range Plan for Technology was released for the period from September 2006 to August of 2008. It offered several new programs including the Texas Virtual School Network, an increase of technology applications classes and internet safety curriculum. The Texas Virtual School Network is a program that would help schools offer a variety of classes that would not be available otherwise. The benefits offered by this program were expanded curriculum, an expanded base of qualified teachers, AP classes, and credit recovery. Students can work at a flexible pace as needed and also have the benefit of schedule flexibility. Teachers would also be able to receive new forms of professional development. ESC Region 4 and 10 were appointed to help implement the electronic courses. At the time of the report, the classes had not yet started so there was no data to judge the success of the program.
The introduction of technology applications classes in high school were also encouraged to increase opportunities for students in higher levels of education. Desktop publishing, video technology, digital graphics, and animation are only a few of the tech apps classes offered. The guidelines also allow for these concepts to be taught in core classes as well. Curriculum for internet safety was also to be implemented. Students use the internet so much, they need to be able to ascertain which sites are relevant, safe and will provide correct information.
All of the programs listed above are excellent ideas for today's learner. Students access to technology has increased exponentially in the last 10 years. I believe that the plan will be successful if the appropriate training and funding is put into place.
The introduction of technology applications classes in high school were also encouraged to increase opportunities for students in higher levels of education. Desktop publishing, video technology, digital graphics, and animation are only a few of the tech apps classes offered. The guidelines also allow for these concepts to be taught in core classes as well. Curriculum for internet safety was also to be implemented. Students use the internet so much, they need to be able to ascertain which sites are relevant, safe and will provide correct information.
All of the programs listed above are excellent ideas for today's learner. Students access to technology has increased exponentially in the last 10 years. I believe that the plan will be successful if the appropriate training and funding is put into place.
Web Conference
I attended my first web conference last night. It was good to see faces to go with names. This has been an interesting experience for the last week and a half. It has been so long since I have been in school! I still cannot edit the wiki, but hopefully the solution to this will be found soon! I learned about where to find the internship information. Also deadlines were given for getting a mentor and the number of required field and curriculum hours. The interaction of the web conference was beneficial. We could learn from each others' comments and questions and get acquainted with the software for the web conference as well. I liked how informal it was and that we were encouraged to help each other when a problem arose. Since this is an online class only, I feel that the web conferences will be an assest throughout the five weeks.
Blog #1 Teaching and Learning
Teaching and Learning in a new way is in order to successfully prepare our 21st Century Learners for "life in the real world". According to the 2007-2008 Campus Statewide Summary by Key Area Chart, the state of Texas as a whole is in the developing phase in this area. Students use technology individually to create their own presentation projects. Instruction is teacher led and not much collaboration exists. Technology is used in teaching the TEKS, but only minimally. Our school is at the same developing phase for teaching and learning. We have been in that phase for the last three years. I believe that in our case, teacher "buy-in" and relevancy, and student access are necessary. Many teachers have trouble catching the vision for change. There is no "buy-in" because all of the standards in place require the use of specific software a certain number of times each semester. This becomes another item on the teachers' long checklists to be completed. At this time, there is no relevancy for the teacher or student. Teachers need to be presented with the plan as a whole. How could the software be beneficial in real life? The teacher can then relay this to the student. Teachers and students need buy-ins, not requirements. Student access is often a problem as well with only one computer lab and a few library computers available. Teachers must plan their technology experiences by a calendar. This is an improvement over last year though. I believe that we are on the right path, but we still have a long journey ahead of us.
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